Close Encounter

This evening I had a close encounter with a hedge .
Just got home from work on my Bandit, which I use for commuting. As it was still nice and light I decided to go for a ride on my SV650s.
Ended up going down a nice narrow country lane, as I'm still running the bike in, I was doing about 50ish. Came to a bend, right foot covering break, leaned in but didn't go around as much as I needed to.
Skimmed a bush on the opposite side of the road as a went round. Tried countersteering , but just didn't seem to want to turn sharper.

A question arosed in my mind as I slowly made my way home, thanking fate that there had been no oncoming vehicles. Why was it so hard to lean the bike over more?

I've recently adjusted the rear suspension to max, as I heard this makes it easier to turn. Am I wrong? and what else could I have done.

[northwind]

Bandits are just adjustable for preload on the rear, right? Messing about with that to try and make it easier to turn or to adjust the ride height is IMO just bad news- set the sag right and then leave it as it is, anything else will screw up the way the rear deals with bumps and give you roadholding issues which could see you run wide easily.

Otherwise, what usually drags me wider than I like in bends is braking or engine braking. Other common reason would be target fixation I suppose.

[Biker Biggles]

Also,have you cheched your tyre pressures?It's allways worth looking at that before making other changes.

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

Also,have you cheched your tyre pressures?It's allways worth looking at that before making other changes.

Agreed. I find overinflated tyres make me run wide.

Cheers, will check pressure on way home this evening. May also adjust rear suspension back to default.

Northwind...Kirmit mentioned that the Bandit was his commute bike.The incident occurred when riding his SV.

Kirmit...Not sure how long you have been riding but it could be that your approach to this bend was all wrong to start off with, in addition this concerns me a bit:

leaned in but didn't go around as much as I needed to.

So are we saying the bend was tighter than you first thought? You then found you were carrying a tadge too much speed for the severity of the bend? Indications of a very basic error there... you had limited vision in and beyond the bend that you approached and so left your self open to risk my friend.

The fact that you caught the hedge on the opposite side of the road shows that you stood the bike up in the bend also.

When you noticed you needed more lean where you looking ahead as to where you intended to go or were your eyes drawn to the things you might hit? I know what my guess would be!

For countersteering to work in the situation above you really must commit to it.Looking right were you want to go and applying the presssure to the bars via loose arms and gentle bar grip.All very contrary to what the natural reaction would be.

I am no expert mate but have made a mistake or two over the years and hopefully the above might help.Don't go looking too much at the bike, whether it turns in slow or fast does not matter a bit if there is a competant rider aboard, he will accept that and make allowances for it.

Being a bit of a fossil I come from the days of twin rear shocks with a touch of adjustment with a "C" spanner,(more for if you are carrying a pillion or not!) . In my opinion too many people get themselves too tied up with ball*x about suspension settings when they would be best concentrating on their riding skills.

A good rider knows how his bike will react in certain situations,he does not need a manual to show him how to dial in the best cornering ever.

Having said the above I do accept that major improvements to how a bike will perform in certain areas can be made but let's first identify the true problem.

(Ducks and waits for the volley from the pre load, rebound,travel devotees! )

Consider target fixation as a possible cause. For years, I could find myself running wide, particularly if there was something on the outside of the bend I wanted to avoid - like a car or a hedge. The more you fix on that object you want to avoid, the wider you will end up running towards it. Try to ignore that hedge, car, whatever and look where you want to end up - clean round the bend (no jokes about Harpic at the back).

[Sid Squid]

Off throttle?

Nothing but nothing steers right with a shut throttle.

Again thanks for the responses.

In hindsight I agree, problably target fixation. Mixed in with lack of experience.

I've been commuting on the Bandit since Feb'05, and already done 12K miles. That's right 12K . Use it for everything including 60miles-a-day commute.

On the SV I've only done 350 miles. Probably take a bit more miles to get used to the differrent riding style.

where were you looking ?

you go where you look (seriously)